Jakarta, IO – Amidst the roar of the drilling machines, Imas Masfahitah looked worriedly while rescue workers tried to remove a large pile of concrete. Occasionally, the 34-year-old woman wiped her tears behind the fence.
Imas still had a glimmer of hope that her daughter, Ashika Nur Fauziah, 7, would still be alive, after hearing a news that a 6-year-old boy named Azka Maulana Malik managed to survive after being trapped under the rubble for 48 hours.
“I still have hope. Earlier I saw her doll, I burst into tears,” she said, reported BBC Indonesia.
Unfortunately, Ashika was eventually pulled out dead. “She was crushed under a large slab of concrete,” said Nasrum Djamil, one of the rescue workers.
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Nasrum said that Ashika was found on Friday (25/11), around 10 a.m WIB. Ashika was promptly buried. “Her body was taken by her father Rohman. He was devastated,” said Nasrum.
The rescue team had searched for Ashika since Tuesday (22/11). One challenge the rescue team is facing is lack of equipment like a more powerful drilling machine. The frequent aftershock also hampered search efforts for the still missing victims in the powerful magnitude-5.6 quake in Cianjur, West Java. (rr)